1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, a remote operation system, a signal processing method and a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a technique of directly remote-operating a server on a network, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-344189. A remote-operation system that employs the above technique is shown in FIG. 1.
A system configuration shown in FIG. 1 has a plurality of server groups 910, each of which has a housing in which multiple servers 911 are housed. Each of the servers 911 is connected to a server switching device 901. The servers 911 and the server switching devices 901 may be connected together via connectors capable of transferring image data (for example, VGA (Video Graphics Array) connectors), keyboard connectors and mouse connectors (for example, PS/2® connectors).
The server switching devices 901 are connected to a network 903 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or Internet, and communicate with an information processing apparatus 920, which may be a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as PC) or a workstation.
More particularly, upon receiving a request from the information processing apparatus 920, the server switching devices 901 selectively connect the information processing apparatus 920 with the servers 911 requested. The server switching devices 901 generate IP (Internet Protocol) packages on the basis of a display screen output via the VGA connectors from the servers 911, and send the IP packages to the information processing apparatus 920. The apparatus 920 receives the IP packages based on the IP address from the network 903, and displays a display screen on a monitor 921. The information processing apparatus 920 converts information on an operation entered using a keyboard or mouse on the display screen into IP packets, and sends these IP packets to the server switching devices 901. The devices 901 receive the IP packets related to the operation information on the basis of the IP addresses from the network 903, and extract the operation information therefrom. Then, the server switching devices 901 apply the operation information thus extracted to the keyboard connector or the mouse connector of the server 911.
The server switching devices 901 cause the information processing apparatus 920 to serve as an input/output device such as a monitor, keyboard and mouse connected to the selected servers 911. This provides the operator with a circumstance such that the above input/output device is directly connected to the servers 911.
Generally, each of the servers 911 is connected directly to the network 903 without the server switching devices 901. In this case, each of the serves 911 is equipped with a network adapter for making a connection with the network 903.
However, the system configuration shown in FIG. 1 needs a huge number of interconnection cables dependent on the number of servers 911. Examples of those interconnection cables are to connect the servers 911 and the server switching devices 901, and to connect the servers 911 and the network 903. Nowadays, the mainstream configuration in a large-scale system employs a single housing in which multiple servers 911 are housed as shown in FIG. 1. In this system configuration, a huge number of interconnection cables are gathered in a very narrow area, and has a difficulty in establishment and management.